The present invention is directed to display devices, and more particularly to reflective display devices. However, it is to be appreciated the invention may have applications in other imaging related environments and designs as well.
Industry is competitively seeking improved designs for displaying information in the form of text and/or images. One type of display technology is known as transmissive or emission-based imaging which emits visible light viewed by a user. Common transmissive display technologies include cathode ray tubes (CRT), and liquid crystal displays (LCDs), among others. A drawback of this technology is that it requires a large amount of energy. For example, an issue with portable electronic devices, such as laptop computers, PDAs and electronic tablets, are limitations due to energy requirements for operation of the associated transmissive display. Thus, a major stumbling block to providing even smaller, more compact and efficient devices are the power requirements of the displays. This issue is, however, not limited to only portable battery powered products which are being minimized. Any product which is operated by a battery or even a power line connection to a utility, faces the high cost associated with operation of transmissive/emission type displays.
Therefore, it has been deemed desirable to develop a display technology which uses less energy than existing transmissive emission-based systems. One particular technology which is being investigated is the use of reflective imaging. This technology generates images without the drawbacks of transmissive/emission based displays such as high energy costs. One specific implementation is electronic paper, which uses, for example, gyricon balls. Such displays uses small, multi-colored spheres having permanent di-pole movement when an appropriate electrical charge is applied. Selective application of the electrical charge by use of an addressing system causes selected gyricon balls to rotate, thereby displaying a different color than unselected gyricon balls, resulting in the forming of reflective images.
The present application seeks an alternative reflective display technology which may be used to generate images, such as for computers, electronic paper, outdoor billboards, PDAs or other imaging devices.